Hard Path
by Daniel Lynx
Summary: A new arrival to Nerima... Spells changes for all its residents... Especailly Ranma. Expect some crossvers mostly around Street Fighter & King of Fighters... Warning OC


**Title**: Hard Path

**Author name**: Daniel Lynx

**Disclaimer**: Ranma ½ Series and characters belongs to Rumiko Takahashi... The Street Fighter Series belongs to Capcom, and the King of Fighters and Fatal Fury characters and series belong to SNK Playmore (If that what's its being called now). I do own the OC that will be in this series, and his background is borrowed from another show that will be mentioned later on.

**Author Note: **This fic has been in the making for quite some time, it wasn't still in progress, until a trip to Arizona, when I finally decided to start writing it out, and now being presented to everyone.

**CHAPTER 1**

**Mysterious Arrival : Hidden Danger**

Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts was going through something that seems to be a normal routine for him ever since coming to Nerima... "RANMA!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!" A boy wearing a faded yellow long sleeve shirt, black pants with ties on the shins, and kung fu shoes shouted, as he threw a bunch of yellow and black spotted bandannas, like the one wrapped around his head. Ranma jumped up onto a nearby rooftop to avoid the flying head accessory turned into a shuriken, "Alright... What the hell are you mad about 'THIS' time Ryoga?!" he bellowed out, while Ryoga had a smirk on his face for some strange reason. "I figured that if I kill you right now, then Akane can live a better life knowing that you're 'DEAD'!" Ryoga roared out in response as he continued to press his attack on Ranma while using the Bakusai Tenketsu in between every flurry before he stared to use the Shi Shi Hokodan.

Ranma couldn't believe Ryoga was spewing the same rhetoric as before... Sure the whole wedding fiasco 'really' didn't help his and Akane's complicated relationship, but a couple of days after the incident they had a heart to heart about it, away from money grubbing sisters, and incompetent fathers. They agreed that the both of them were not ready for marriage, and would wait to see what could happen once they were finished with high school. Also, Ranma agreed, that he will try to be more considerate of her feelings and work on not shooting his mouth off, along with training her seriously. Akane even accepted that she needed to reign in her temper, as well as stop jumping to conclusions when he isn't around or when the other fiancées attempted to get his attention by throwing themselves onto Ranma. She would try to accept whatever criticism Ranma gave about her form during her training, as long as he didn't make a huge insult out of it, and belittle her skills in the art, due to the little training she had from her father. Akane even tried to swallow her pride, by asking Kasumi to help her if she ever wants to cook for the family, along with paying attention to what she grabs before putting it into what she wanted to prepare for any meal. Although, ever since his battle with Saffron, Ranma felt as though he was at a whole other level than most of his rivals, including his father, and right now he was working to hopefully one day beat the perverted master of his school, and the old ghoul of the Amazons. "I'm not the same guy you fought before pig boy, I killed a god, and I can sure as hell kill you... But since you are my pal, and you helped save Akane on Mt. Phoenix, I'll go easy on ya," Ranma replied with a smirk on his face. He didn't mean any of it of course, it was just some flat threat. Unfortunately, this seemed to infuriate Ryoga more and the thought of Ranma going easy on him in a fight... Really set him off, "DON'T CALL ME PIG BOY!!!" he hollered while charging straight for Ranma, who was getting into a fighting stance preparing for the next attack of the lost boy... Only to find him jumping out of the way as dozens of chains coming out of nowhere trying to restrain him, "SAOTOME!!! I'll never let you have Shampoo!!!"

Ranma could throw his hands up in exasperation if wasn't occupied with Ryoga trying to hit him, 'Oh great, now Mousse decided to join in, which means he's actually wearing his glasses this time,' thought Ranma, as the male Amazon who is a master of their Hidden Weapons Technique joined Ryoga's efforts in taking the pigtailed martial artist down, to prove to the girl the myopic male his worth more than Ranma. 'Geez even if I get double teamed by these two or even the Samurai wannabe it still isn't enough, and its not helping me either. They haven't gotten better, if this keeps up I may have to try fighting the freak or the old ghoul to really enjoy a fight,' Ranma put into assumption while he broke through the chains that got lucky in grabbing him and ran head on into fighting the Amazon moron and P-chan.

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As another battle was being waged in Nerima, with some major property damage, and the construction companies getting overtime in making the repairs or rebuilding... A new player is about to enter this chaotic mix. This person looked to be seventeen years old and possibly six feet in height, with a strong build, but not too muscular like those professional bodybuilders, just enough to have women of all ages throw themselves at him. His clothes may tend to give people a different idea; he wore black pants, with the left leg covered in red flames up to the knee with some flares with a red boot to match and a black one on the right. Along with that he had a white long sleeve dress shirt, he kept un-tucked, and a black cut off jacket, with the kanji of 'Ten' on the back in blood red. (1) When women look at his face, they would see that he was a 'gaijin' but it wouldn't matter either way when they saw a handsome face to go with that body of his. He had green and brown hazel eyes, and short brown hair with blood red highlights, with a short ponytail, which had people noticed it was style the same way as Recca Hanabishi from the anime/manga series 'Flame of Recca.' 'Hmm... So this is Nerima, the home of that guy I sensed back in China five months ago,' the boy though as he walking, taking in the view of the city, while carrying a big rucksack over his right shoulder, and a large gym bag in his left hand. 'That man I met at Jusenkyo told me this guy live in Japan, but that really didn't help me a whole bunch... I spent five months traveling around Japan trying to find him, while continuing my own training. At least he was kind enough to give me a picture of the guy, since his vocal description wouldn't have help me a whole lot,' he continued to ponder as he was walking across a street, taking no heed of a car coming towards him as his next step had him avoid getting hit. "Man I'm just glad somebody told me while asking for directions to Nerima, he kept seeing this guy for who knows how many times he told which way to get there, he still went the opposite way... Seriously how stupid can a person be?" he said out loud, expecting someone to answer his question. Then shook his ahead forgetting the whole issue, 'Anyway, I'm glad to finally be here, and now I can't wait to fight this guy, hoping to get a decent challenge...' His thought kept leaguering on, as he stops for a moment to comp template something. "Although that youma I fought back in Juuban two days ago was a nice challenge an all, but when I think about it... I really got to wonder how the police would've handled something like that," he asked himself out loud as he thought back to that day...

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**Begin Flashback**

_**The boy had walked up to a street vendor to grab an apple to eat as he continued his trek to Nerima, "Its like that old saying goes...'an apple a day, keeps the doctor away'," he stated to the vendor who nodded his head in confirmation, having heard that expression from some tourists from the United States. Just as the boy was about to pay the man... A loud screech was heard, that was soon followed by some explosions behind his peripheral vision, and triggered his hopes of having a normal day, to having something that was going to piss him off beyond belief. He turned around to see the explosion coming from heavily damaged cars, and as he concentrated a bit more, he was in the middle of all that destruction, stood a youma that he was hearing from random people fleeing the scene. Ironically this youma looked it had come from a scrap heap, "Wow, to quote Danny Glover from 'Predator 2'... 'You are one ugly... mother fucker.' Of course Danny's character never finished that sentence since the predator grabbed him by the neck," he muttered and decided to walk away with his apple. When he turned to look at the vendor, he saw that he wasn't there anymore, "Must've fled like the others," the boy figured, as he was going to take this opportunity, and grabbed a couple more apples to put in his rucksack. "It won't hurt him if I take a couple more, if that thing ends up smashing his stand here... This way some of these apples won't go to waste," he had put into assumption, while taking a look at the area with a sigh of resignation. Seeing civilians running like a bunch of chickens with its head cut off, screaming like banshees as the youma continued to raise hell... By throwing cars around like rag dolls, and from what the young man could sense it was sucking the ki from the unlucky people that got caught. "Geez, you'd think the police would be here right now. What the hell are they waiting for, the JSDF?" he inquired as he decided to walk away, feeling that it wasn't worth his time fighting it.**_

_**Unfortunately, the youma sensed his presence and was in sure bliss feeling the huge amount of ki this boy was radiating, made it clear he was its next meal. The youma charged right at his retreating form, as it started to drool in anticipation of sucking the ki out of his body. The young man turned around to see the youma coming at him, "Alright then, at least I won't be getting lazy in my training... Besides this thing has pissed me off already by not leaving me alone," He stated aloud as he dropped his bags where he stood, and walked a few feet away from them. Then his left arm and leg did a complete 360 degree spin, from his body and his foot slammed into the ground... Causing blood red flames to flare above his head and shoulders and as the youma pulled its claws back, preparing to tear into his flesh... Was when the carnage 'REALLY' begins.**_

_**The young man lifts his left leg... The youma stopped its charge for a moment to look at what this human was doing. It figured out at that moment that this pitiful little human was going to fight him; it started to what the boy figure was the sound of the youma laughing at him. "Yeah keep laughing, just wait till you see what happens to you in just a second," the boy said softly with a tint of malice in his voice. Once the youma stopped laughing, it resumed its charge and as he got close enough to swing his clawed hand at the human, expecting to rip into his flesh, only to slice through air? Suddenly the young man appeared right behind the youma, and as it turned around to find where the human was... To see a fist strike its face, and shot it thirty feet into the wall of a building due to the force of the blow. The young man had a cold gaze as it looked at where the youma was, waiting to see if it would attack again, and it didn't disappoint him. When it finally shook the cobwebs from the boy's surprise attack, trying to figure out how that little human got behind it all of a sudden... It decided that it was useless to find out and rushed towards the boy again with a loud roar, looking to rip his head off. As the boy ducked under the youma's claw and he shouts, "Shoryu!!!" He rises up with a right uppercut striking the youma, but the thing that amazed some people that hadn't ran off, was that his boy was flying in mid-air for a brief moment with that fist still buried in the youma's face. **_

_**As he spun around the boy made a soft landing on the ground while the youma crashed into the ground hard, and he stood still for a moment eye watching this beast like a hawk as it crawled up to its feet. Suddenly the young man's face turned dark as if he had something evil planned, 'Its time I end this,' he thought as he stood his ground, the youma got to its feet once more and looked at the boy, with a look of complete rage. This little human had humiliated it for the last time... It would tear his body limb from limb, and show this little human his entrails, once its claws are speared into his body. The youma's roar was so loud some people that were still in the vicinity, but not seeing what was happening stood still in fear. The youma sped towards the young man, with a murderous look on its face, with its claws ready to rip this insolent mortal to shreds. Once the young man saw the youma begin its mad sprint to cut him to ribbons, he jumped into the air, eyes focused on the youma, as blood red flames appeared once more, while thrusting his hands out for a few moments. Then he pulls his right hand back as far as they could, a strange purple light started to appear around his hand, in the form of a ball. His left hand was extended, almost acting scope for a gun but with his right hand... Which from what he had sensed, reach the peak of power that was needed to throw one of the many destructive techniques his master had taught him... "HADOUKEN!!!" he yelled out, as a huge fireball of purple energy with blood red flashing inside, and approximately about the size of two large beach balls put together, was shot from his now extended right hand... Angled straight at the youma!!! Just looking at it made the youma feel something it had never felt before in the presence of a human... Fear. Its eyes were wide open in complete terror instead of rage, knowing it had no where to run, as the fireball slammed into its body... It screeched in agony, as it was completely incinerated by the blast.**_

_**Some on lookers that hadn't made it out were in shock at what had just occurred... This young man was able to do what the Sailor Scouts have always done for everyone in Juuban, kill a youma. They see him float back on the ground, and his feet hit without making a sound. When the dust finally cleared they were seeing the spot where the youma stood... Is now a huge crater when the energy blast hit, and just by looking at the size of the crater, some people turned to look at the young man with a bit of awe and fear. "The first rule of fighting..." the young man begins to say, while looking at the crater where the youma once stood with a look of disgust on his face, "If someone starts to attack you, make sure 'YOU' finish it by beating them to the point of unconsciousness, or kill them without any mercy." Some people seemed to have been shaken up, by this young adult's cold words in regards to what had transpired here not too long ago, they continued to stand there not moving an inch closer to him, as he calmly walked over to where he had dropped his bags. After throwing one over his shoulder, he grabbed the other one and walked away, not even caring to look back to whomever saw him or attempting to come up and try to speak to him about what he did. In this young fighter's mind, the battle was over and it was time to move on, "Well that was a complete waste of my time, now to keep lookin for Nerima where this person I'm looking for resides in," he said aloud, continuing to move away from the scene without a care in the world.**_

**End Flashback**

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The young man let out a sigh of resignation, "Well at least I've been enjoying the life I have now to the fullest, and when I finally find this guy here in Nerima... I know it will get even more enjoyable." Then he heard a sound that he's been getting used to hear during all those hikes on his journey... The sound of his stomach growling, "Eh...heh... Unfortunately, I'll need to find some place around here where I can eat, damn stomach..." he stated. Then his eyebrows rose up as he seemed to have a slight epiphany, 'Well I'm sure eating something, will get my mind off that subject, now I just need to find anybody from around here, to tell me where I can go to get something to eat, cause I do not want to deal with this later.

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Not too far from the traveling teen, Shampoo was racing through the rooftops of Nerima on her bike, heading back to the Nekohanten after taking care of the last delivery for the morning. The elderly man on her last stop, gave her a nice tip as always (AN: Gee I wonder why) and she was glad to know he liked his food, (AN: If she only knew) "Now all I need, is to get Airen to take Shampoo out on date," she chimed to herself, happy in knowing she'll be seeing her beloved soon. Then she hops off the roof of the house she was on to end the rest of ride back to the Nekohanten on the streets, since she was a few blocks away from there now, and figured it wouldn't be a good thing for customers to see her on the rooftops on her bike. As the young man continued to walk the streets, he quirked an eyebrow when he heard the sound of bell... When he turned around, he saw a girl about his age, with light purple hair, that looked very beautiful to the eyes, cross his path. 'Hmm... Maybe she can help me find somewhere I can eat around here,' he had thought as he called out to her, "Umm... Excuse me miss?" Shampoo stopped to look behind her and see who was speaking... To see a boy standing a few feet away from her in the strangest clothes she'd ever seen so far in Japan, but for some reason he seemed to make it work. She could tell he was a traveler, due to the bags he was carrying, and a martial artist as well from the way he carried himself, a gaijin from what she could tell from his accent, not to mention the light tone of his skin. Shampoo smiled at him and asked, "What wairen want?"(2) 'You know I can't tell if she meant that to be an insult,' he pondered for a moment, then decided not to worry about it, since he was raised to be very tolerant of other people's words. "Ah... Could you tell me if there's a place nearby that I could get some food? I just came into the area not too long ago, and I have no idea what's what around here," he inquired while scratching the side of his face, as if he was embarrassed about the predicament he was in. Shampoo smiled at him once more, that was bound to make every teenage male in Nerima very jealous of this guy getting a beautiful smile from one of the known fiancées of Ranma Saotome, "Yes Shampoo work at Nekohanten, make too too good ramen, Shampoo on her way back there now, you follow," she replied. The young man put on a huge smile on his face, after he had eaten the last apple in his bag, he had built up a huge appetite that was wanting something more than apples, "Alright, lead the way," he responded while she got off her bike to walk with him, 'Although, I have to wonder why her Japanese is off?' was the thought that came to him, as he caught up with her and was able to get a closer look at her.

In his opinion, this girl was gorgeous, beyond belief, the light purple hair that went down to her waist was very intriguing to him and those maroon eyes really added to that alluring appeal she had, not liking the silence since meeting he spoke, "Can I ask you a question miss?" Shampoo looked at him for a moment, though she was surprised to see someone about her age acting very respectful to her, its seems that the madness this town has been going through tend to throw respect out the window, when it came to her Airen and his fights with Mousse and the other rivals, "What you want?" she inquired. "You're a foreigner here in Japan as well, aren't you?" the young man asked as she got back on her bike, and started peddling at a leisurely pace, so the new customer would keep up with her, while responding with a look of pride on her face, "Yes, me from China, Shampoo is proud Amazon of Juketsuzoku." Now his interest was peaked after her statement, "Jusketsuzoku? Isn't that located somewhere near an ancient training ground known as Jusenkyo?" he asked. Shampoo had completely stopped her bike after hearing his latest question, surprised that this gaijin knew of her tribe, normally some hadn't ever came near, but considering he was a martial artist, she wasn't surprised at all. The purple haired waitress of the Nekohanten nodded, "Yes you know of Jusenkyo?" this time he boy was smiling seeing was getting somewhere in this chat, "Well I came across Jusenkyo about five months ago, while looking for clues to this tremendous power I felt when was trekking nearby. Once I finally reached Jusenkyo, I met a man who acted as the guide for the entire area, and when I asked him about that power I felt earlier, he explained to me that a boy a year younger than me had defeated a person named Saffron two days before I got there." Shampoo took everything she thought about the gaijin back, his mastery of the Japanese language was far more superior than hers, that she really envied him, and whished she could speak as good as him. "Uh... I don't mean to be rude an all, but how much of the Japanese language have you learned? Cause even though you sound like what people would call in my home a 'bimbo'," here the young man use his fingers to make a quote at that statement, "I believe you sound a lot smarter when you use your native language. If you'd like some help, I could give you some lessons in Japanese if you want them," he added with the proposition of helping her speak the language here, a lot better than what she was using so far. Shampoo smiled at his offer, glad someone was offering to help her use of the language, now she just needs to let her great-grandmother know, "Aiyah, yes me no good with Nipon language, you keep following Shampoo, and great-grandmother can explain." He just shrugged his shoulders, not really understanding why her grandmother needed to explain 'her' lackluster ability to speak Japanese. "Alright... I guess, but you have to realize that you have a say in matters that concern your education more than your relatives, but who am I to judge," he stated, while giving his personal opinion on that whole issue.

Shampoo had a puzzled look on her face, but ignored it, her grandmother had helped her a lot and it wasn't like she wasn't going to change that now since she's always helped her come up with something at times to help her get her Airen to admit he loves her. When she saw that they had arrived at their destination, she point to the sign that said 'Nekohanten' with an arrow pointing at the building, "It is here, restaurant where Shampoo stay and work, you come and eat yes?" Shampoo explained to him while asking if he was going to eat here, "Yes, thanks for the help... Uh..." the young man paused for moment, realizing he had forgotten something. "I'm sorry after asking that question and everything else, I completely forgot to ask you your name," he recalled feeling like a heel for not asking that earlier. "Shampoo," she answers, "Is that how they say it here," he inquired with a quirked eyebrow, finding it hard to believe that she was named after a common store product used for your hair, "Shampoo thinks so, yes," she stated trying to recall what she remembered in learning Japanese at the time. 'Okay... That is just too freaking weird,' he thought, "How is it actually pronounced in your language," he asked curiously, "Name is Xian pu, but in Nipon language is called Shampoo... Xian Pu means 'stone'... Not 'cut stone'..." (3) Shampoo responds, all the while asking herself, why she was telling him this, when it should be doing it for her Airen. "I see, that's a nice name, my name is Daniel Corinthos, and thanks for helping me," Daniel said introducing himself with a smile on his face.

She nods as they entered the restaurant, Shampoo knew it was still early since she saw only three customers and Daniel would be the fourth this morning before the real rush came once it got to noon. Then a boy with huge round spectacles, long black hair, wearing a white Chinese shirt with a large blue rhombus, with a small red one on the in the middle of the blue one, and four yellow ones on each points of the blue rhombus with black on the end of the sleeves and blue pants with black kung fu shoes was in the middle of wiping down a table, when he looked up to see Shampoo, and had a look on his face... As if saying 'All is right with the world.' "_Shampoo you're back how was the delivery?_" The boy asked her in Mandarin, "_Same as usual, prepare a table Mousse, the boy behind me is going to have breakfast here, I'll get great-grandmother,_" Shampoo responds as she left to put her bicycle away. Mousse nodded and walked up to Daniel and usher him to a cleaned table, "This way please sir," he told him, Daniel had a smile on his face as he pulled another chair out from the table, and put his bags down, before taking a seat himself, "Thanks." Then Mousse handed him a menu and pulled a small notepad from his sleeve, along with a pen, "What would honored guest like to eat?" he had asked as Daniel was looking at what the place had to offer. "Hmmmm... To be honest, I really don't know. Could you give me some suggestions?" Daniel questioned since he had a hard time making up his mind. "Well we have a large selection of ramen flavors, dim sum, that's dumplings with different flavors and meat. We also have a large selection of vegetarian meals if you wanted that instead," Mousse had explained, "Ok thanks... I'll have a bowl a ramen, along with whatever meat dishes you offer, I haven't had a decent meal for awhile, and for some odd reason I have a need to really stuff myself,"(4) Daniel mentions while shrugging his shoulders. "Okay, what flavor ramen would you like?" Mousse inquired while writing down his order, "I'll have miso," Daniel responded, "And what would you like to drink?" Mousse added, after getting down what type of ramen he wanted, "Water is fine," was Daniel's quick answer.

After double checking to make sure he got everything right, Mousse told Daniel, "Okay, Shampoo will bring your order in a few minutes," and left to go into the kitchen to place Daniel's order to Cologne, all the while Daniel had a pleased look on his face, while patiently waiting for his food. 'Once I'm finished eating, I can finally continue looking for this person, 'IF' he is here, and then...' Daniel put into assumption, and grabbed his rucksack from the other side of his table, opening it up to pull out a picture of a boy near his age in a red Chinese shirt, black kung fu pants and shoes, with black hair in a pigtail... The picture was given to him by the Jusenkyo Guide just as he was about to leave to head to the nearest town. 'Ranma Saotome, I wonder if you will prove to be the challenge I've been waiting for back in China,' he concluded with a pleased grin on his face as his eyes started to change from his green/brown hazel... To blood red.

Minutes later, Shampoo came up to his table to place some of his order down, and suddenly the rest was thrown which she caught gracefully, then put on his table along with the cup of water that was still on the tray in her other hand not spilling a drop. Daniel was very impressed with her coordination and applauded her, "Thank you," she chimed, "Enjoy... If anything else you want, ask Shampoo or Mousse yes?" Daniel was confused for a moment, until he remembered the mispronunciation of her name must go along with the boy who took his order earlier, "Mousse? Is that the boy with the glasses?" he inquired, Shampoo nods her head that he was right, 'Why do I get the feeling there is some person or god out there with a strange sense of humor,' Daniel wondered, and spoke up, "I see... By the way I'd like to thank you again for all your help... Xian Pu." Shampoo was stunned for a moment and then it turned into a huge smile, this was the first person so far in Japan, to ever say her name correctly it made her very happy, as she left to tend to a customer that came in not too long ago. "You know she's really gorgeous, especially when she smiles its moments like that, makes me glad to know I can still make girls smile that way. Even if most of them attempted to try to get me in bed," Daniel said to himself quietly, as he dug into his meal, completely oblivious to the gaze of the diminutive Amazon elder.

Cologne po-goed over to the counter top after finishing the next order up, to glance at the gaijin her great-granddaughter mentioned when she came back from her delivery, 'He has good skills, not to mention good control over his ki, however...' she stopped for a moment as she began to feel his ki spike. Cologne started to shiver at the amount of killing intent in that burst, and saw his eyes turn blood red, as he was looking at a picture, when she got close enough to see it she was not surprised to see it was a picture of Ranma. 'There was a great deal of malice in him, especially when he took out that picture of Son-in-law, another challenger...? Perhaps this would prove interesting as time goes on,' Cologne had put into assumption, feeling that this newcomer could really turn Nerima, and all the martial artists' lives... Upside down.

**To be Continued...**

**Chapter Preview... Ranma meets Daniel Corinthos and accepts his challenge, but it seems there is more to this fighter than meets the eye. Suddenly their beliefs clash and Ranma will ends up in a fight that would make his battle with Saffron seem tame... But can he stand up to a fighter... Who was trained to kill?**

**Next Chapter... Ranma's fight for his life... Power of the Satsui no Hadou**

**AN: This is one of a couple of stories I've been working to hopefully present to others. I am mostly known to work with Max Knight in his fics, and he helped me work out making this one with me, before I began to write it down. I believe if I write it down first to get my ideas out and then type it up to hopefully get it close to perfect. I'll update when I can... I plan on writing out the next chapter while I'm away for a summer job I begin Sunday. I hope to get some reviews, flames will be ignored or I just roast them for Griever... I will take constructive criticism to heart hoping to make this better. Till next time R&R.**

**(1) This is a combination of the clothes of Devil Jin from Tekken 5 and Iori Yagami from Kin of Fighters**

**(2) Wairen came from Max Knight, said to name it was the Chinese way to say foreigner **

**(3) This also came from Max as Well**

**(4) Please excuse this I have very little knowledge of Chinese food, since I don't really eat it, I'm just working with what I know.**


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